When they arrived to the village, some adults welcomed the children with hugs. Others were worried about what that might mean, although they breathed a little calmer when that strange man explained the situation. If it was bears that had attacked the carriage, then they couldn’t blame them. And, hopefully, they wouldn’t look for the children again if they were believed dead. They also hoped that some soldiers had escaped with the information of the attack, in order to avoid further investigations.
Most looked suspiciously at that adventurer who had brought the children back, although they were calmer when he didn’t claim any reward for it. However, the fact that it had defeated some animals of an exceptionally high level for those forests meant that he was more powerful than any of them, which could be dangerous.
But what left them speechless was that he accompanied the children to the magic leather platform and that he showed that he could use it. That was unusual in an adventurer, but even more exceptional was that he managed to teach the two children to use it, to give them the rank of apprentice, which showed that he was a teacher, someone who had reached a very high level in that. What was someone like him doing there?
“For now, they can only convert animal skins up to level 10. They will need to do it a thousand times to go forward,” explained the leather master.
That was certainly great news for them. Many of the skins they could get were low level, and that would allow them to treat and sell it at a better price, or be able to use it themselves.
“These children now have a small mana pool, so they can craft very few each day, no more than a couple each hour, and even less from the higher level ones when they get there. To improve their pool, you should take them to hunt, so that their strength improves,” the teacher explained.
The villagers nodded. Not only did the words seem to make sense, but they were said by someone who had proven knowledge about it. Neither more nor less than a teacher.
The biggest worry was how to hide that they now had those who could use the platform, how to hide them from the count. They explained to Eldi that he had been hoarding all the artisans to control the industry, so he had to be careful not to be recruited.
But that wasn’t the only thing the count had done. Unlike his parents, who still respected the agreements with the visitor, he had raised taxes year after year until making them unbearable, threatening to ruin many businesses that had begun to flourish, and driving away the merchants who could do their business in others places.
Although he wasn’t the only nobleman who had acted like this, even the monarchy was on that path. In fact, they had threatened to restore slavery for those who couldn’t pay, a threat they seemed willing to comply.
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However, word had spread that the last visitor had arrived, and many expected him to be the one who had helped them in the past. But they also feared that the nobles would go after him, frightened by what he could do when he saw the agreement breached. At least, it seemed that they had frozen some of their plans, that they were in waiting.
And Eldi listened without showing the anger that was flooding him in face of the attitude of the nobles and the suffering of the people, without them knowing that he was the one who they were looking for, the one who had come. He had wanted to remain anonymous, at least until he regained all his power, but it seemed increasingly clear that they were looking for him, whether or not they knew he was there. And he could not sit idly by.
He said goodbye to them after buying all the food he could without raising suspicion, exchanging it for raw meat on most occasions. And also got some old clothes. In addition, he had obtained information about the kingdom, at least what could be known in a remote village in one of the counties. And barely nothing about other kingdoms or other visitors.
It was the children who most regretted his departure, but he had to continue his journey. He couldn’t tell them the truth, who he was or where he was going, but he promised that, if he could, he would visit them in the future. In fact, he had left a Gate Mark in the caves, so he could teleport near the village as soon as he had the needed level, something he didn’t know how long it would take. Maybe years.
What he didn’t know is that his behavior and his appearance had been strange for the villagers, enough for them to suspect, and more when the children, little by little, confessed what they had seen. And when they later learned what would happen next, they were sure of what the true identity of that man was, although they decided to keep it a secret.
Eldi followed the road from the forest, not wanting to risk encounters where he had to give explanations, let alone with soldiers. In fact, he could see how some of them were checking the remains of the carriage, including a level 50 one. He frowned, because if there were many like that one, it could be dangerous, but he was determined to do something. In addition, he had some aces in his sleeve, aces that he hoped were more than just knowledge of the game, so he could make use of them.
The road merged with others and widened. Apart from soldiers, he saw a caravan of merchants, with a rather important escort, some of them even reaching level 70. That confirmed what they had explained to him in the village: poverty was growing in the county and, with it, crime. Many merchants had moved their businesses to other places, while others need to move well protected.
The main cause was excessive taxes that had made some businesses unfeasible and were squeezing many commoners. It was something that reported benefits to the county in the short term, but that was compromising its future and making people suffer. He seemed not to understand that a reasonable and stable tax system had boosted the economy, and that the opposite was undermining it. Or maybe he didn’t even care.
What Eldi knew is that he had the means to stop him. And even if it was risky, he intended to try. It would be more prudent to wait until leveling up, but there were people who couldn’t wait for him